A flight attendant has shared her best travel secrets – including using shower caps for shoes and a hanger for your curtains.
Esther Sturrus, who works for Dutch airline KLM, has stayed in hotels all over the world and regularly updates her TikTok following of more than 180,000 people with ways to make travelling easier.
She always dreamed of being a flight attendant from a very young age and at 16, she attended an aviation course for three years, before going on to work for TUI in 2019 and moving to her current company in 2020.
Now, Esther, 22, from Rotterdam in The Netherlands, has revealed her top tips and tricks to keep in mind when travelling.
In a clip uploaded on TikTok, which has racked up 1.2 million views and over 52,000 likes, she shares insights into the top 10 things to remember while abroad. Here, we explore some of her methods…
Esther Sturrus, who works for Dutch airline KLM, has stayed in hotels all over the world and regularly updates her TikTok following of more than 180,000 people with ways to make travelling easier
LEAVE A SHOE IN THE SAFE
Many hotels, hostels and holiday rentals come with a safe, which is for holidaymakers to put any expensive items that they’d like to keep locked away.
Esther said: ‘My biggest tip is to leave your shoe in the safe. This way you will never forget anything from your safe. You will notice when you want to leave that you are missing a shoe, it’s also quite a funny one!’
SOAK A SMALL TOWEL WHEN YOU GET TO YOUR HOTEL
Esther said: ‘Being on planes means you always suffer from the dry air. And it is not nice if you also have dry air in your hotel room.
‘So another big tip of mine is, when you arrive at your accommodation, soak a small towel and place it in front of the heater. That water evaporates and in a small hotel room that can bring just a little relief.’
CREATE SPACE BY ROLLING CLOTHES
When it comes to packing, most travellers will try to fit as much as they can in bags and suitcases, and by rolling your clothes you can fit in as much as you please.
Esther added: ‘It always seems like there’s never enough room in your luggage when packing for a great journey. However, one of the top travel hacks for packing is to roll your clothes instead of folding them.’
She always dreamed of being a flight attendant from a very young age and at 16, she attended an aviation course for three years, before going on to work for TUI in 2019 and moving to her current company in 2020
Now, Esther, 22, from Rotterdam in The Netherlands, has revealed her top tips and tricks to keep in mind when travelling
CHEAPER AIRLINE FLIGHTS WITH PRIVATE BROWSING
Oftentimes, travel sites and airlines will record your browsing history by installing cookies on your browser.
‘These companies know how often you visit their site and will typically raise the price because of your frequent visits,’ she commented. ‘Therefore, by using private browsing, nothing can be tracked or traced.’
EMAIL A SCAN OF YOUR PASSPORT TO YOURSELF
This is one of Esther’s biggest tips, as it could come in very handy. The 22-year-old said: ‘Having proof of who you are is vital when travelling international flights. This is especially true if you are a victim of burglary or loss.’
USE A HANGER FOR YOUR CURTAINS
She added: ‘Are your curtains not closing properly? Use a clothes hanger! You clip this on the curtain so that no more light comes in between.’
CHARGE ELECTRONIC DEVICES THROUGH A TV
‘One of the most innovative travel hacks is to charge your electronic devices through a TV,’ said Esther. ‘This is extremely helpful if you forgot or lost your wall plug for your charger.’
In a clip uploaded on TikTok, which has racked up 1.2 million views and over 52,000 likes, she shares insights into the top 10 things to remember while abroad
Many hotels, hostels and holiday rentals come with a safe, which is for holidaymakers to put any expensive items that they’d like to keep locked away. Esther said: ‘My biggest tip is to leave your shoe in the safe. This way you will never forget anything from your safe’
DON’T PUT YOUR TOOTHBRUSH ON THE SINK
Esther added: ‘I never find sinks themselves, that fresh. So I turn a paper cup upside down and stab my toothbrush into it. That way I don’t have to put it on the sink.’
USE YOUR HAIRDRYER ON YOUR MIRROR
The 22-year-old said: ‘If your mirror is steamed up after showering, put a hair dryer on it, or hair-dry near it, and it goes straight away.’
USE A SHOWER CAP FOR YOUR SHOES
Use a shower cap for your shoes, said the flight attendant. ‘This way your clothes won’t get dirty when you put your shoes in the suitcase,’ she said.
In the clip, she can be seen demonstrating how to close your curtains with a hanger, before moving on to show you can charge your phone by plugging it into a television.
She then shows that a shower cap is not only useful for your hair but also for putting round your shoes before popping them into a suitcase, keeping your clothes clean.
The 22-year-old said: ‘If your mirror is steamed up after showering, put a hair dryer on it, or hair-dry near it, and it goes straight away’ (pictured left). Esther added: ‘I never find sinks themselves, that fresh. So I turn a paper cup upside down and stab my toothbrush into it. That way I don’t have to put it on the sink. (pictured right)’
In the clip, Esther (pictured) can be seen demonstrating how to close your curtains with a hanger, before moving on to show you can charge your phone by plugging it into a television
‘One of the most innovative travel hacks is to charge your electronic devices through a TV,’ said Esther. ‘This is extremely helpful if you forgot or lost your wall plug for your charger.’
Esther then demonstrates putting one of her heels into a locker, showing that this way, you won’t forget it as it’s in a pair.
She also shows a shower cap wrapped around her remote, to stop it from spreading germs. Esther also reveals that any card can be used for electricity in a hotel room, placing one of her own cards in her room key slot.
She captioned the video: ‘Hotel hacks from a flight attendant.’
Users flocked to the comments to share their reactions, with many left in awe of the hidden tricks.
One person said: ‘What you can put ANY card in for lights???’ Another commented: ‘Wow! These are really cool ideas. Thanks for sharing!’
Someone else wrote: ‘Heel shoe hack great idea.’ While another added: ‘The hanger! Thank you, I hate light in the room at 6am and as a man I don’t have the girls accessories.’
‘One of the most useful videos here,’ added another user. ‘To use the shower cap – never thought about that!’ said someone else.
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